New Delhi, Jan 19: It was a standout year, and not just in Indian politics. 1975, the year of the Emergency, spelt gold for Hindi cinema with memorable films such as “Sholay”, “Deewar”, “Aandhi” and “Nishant” making their way to theatres.
Fifty years on, they live on in public memory, each a classic in different genres and in different moods. It was also the year of “Chupke Chupke”, “Mili”, “Julie”, “Chhoti Si Baat” and “Jai Santoshi Ma”.
A happy confluence of talent, a projection of simmering public discontent or simply a time when writers-directors were true creators? Actually, 1975 was all of these.
If “Sholay” and “Deewar” cemented Amitabh Bachchan’s image as the “Angry Young Man” and gave play to working class angst of the time, “Aandhi” was the lyrical lament of love that was not to be and “Nishant”, a parallel cinema pioneer, was an angry exploration of feudalism in rural India.
It was not just about the actors but also blossoming of writers and directors like Salim Khan-Javed Akhtar (who scripted “Sholay” and “Deewar”), Gulzar (directed “Aandhi”) and Shyam Benegal (directed “Nishant”).
So what propelled this creative surge in a landmark year?
“It was really a happy confluence of writers, directors and actors blooming in the era but particularly in 1975…,” Anjum Rajabali, known for writing the screenplays of films such as “Rajneeti” and “Drohkaal”, told PTI in an interview.
“There were so many great films one after the other. Writers Salim-Javed, filmmakers Ramesh Sippy and Yash Chopra were coming of age… And the spectrum is so different. On the one hand, you have an intense action drama like ‘Deewar’ and then you have ‘Sholay’, a perfect comic book story, and then ‘Aandhi’ which explores the relationship in the political context. I will use the term loosely but they are all the classics of popular cinema.”
Film historian, author and archivist S M M Ausaja added that many things got balanced in 1975. It was a year when commercial cinema was at its peak (“Deewar”, “Sholay”), parallel cinema (“Nishant”) was rising and middle-of-the-road films (“Aandhi”, “Mili” and “Chupke Chupke”) were thriving.
“And what a remarkable variety Amitabh Bachchan showed with both ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’ and then in ‘Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Mili’. It is also the celebration of 50 years of Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom. No superstar has ruled for so many years because ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’ established the ‘Angry Young Man’ persona,” Ausaja told PTI.
In his view, “Deewar”, widely considered the best work of Salim-Javed, is a screenplay textbook of how commercial cinema should be written.
Writing played a big role in the success of these films. Whether it was the winning pair of Salim-Javed, Gulzar or Rahi Masoom Raza, who wrote many films for Hrishikesh Mukheree, writers had their ear to the ground and understood the public, Ausaja said.
“The public sentiment was anti-establishment and they instantly connected with a protagonist that was questioning the system (in ‘Deewar’). It is ironic that Hindi cinema today has no connection with the masses. The question today is: Do films today even have the courage to question the establishment?”
“Stree 2” writer Niren Bhatt agreed.
“Writing was very strong in those days. There was no PR, social media or any other things. There were only films and if the public liked them, they became massively popular. Writers became big.
“You realise how detailed everyday humour was in ‘Chupke Chupke’, the language was literary and not slapstick. It is your textbook cinema dialogues written by Gulzar. Similarly, there has never been a political love story after ‘Aandhi’, which is a film made by a poet, not a filmmaker,” he said.
While Hindi cinema was churning out great stories, other languages and documentaries were also contextualising the times through their stories.
“On the timeline of India’s political and cultural history, which includes cinema, the year 1975 distinguishes itself – imposition of emergency and the emergence of the Angry Young Man on screen, that is Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Deewar’, which had its roots in ‘Zanjeer’ of 1973,” said Amrit Gangar, film scholar, historian and curator.
“Indian youth’s anger was simmering in both real and reel life, reflected in the pan-Indian cinema… Even after half a century in 2025, the year 1975 is remembered not only for the national political emergency but also for its iconic Hindi mainstream cinema which was taking a turn,” Gangar added.
Rajabali said it is interesting how Hindi cinema and what it is trying to say keeps changing through decades.
“In the 50s, you have filmmakers telling stories of nation building and there are also fissures that start to appear in their cinema where they start posing questions to the public about the idealism of the early days. And then you immediately come to the breezy 60s with Shammi Kapoor and Nasir Hussain.
“From the 60s, you dovetail into the dramatic intensity of the 70s where the whole ‘Angry Young Man’ persona starts to take shape and Salim-Javed bursts on the screen. And then you go back to the 80s, the dark ages of Hindi cinema. It makes for an interesting study,” Rajabali said.
It is the golden jubilee year for a great list of films that spelt – and still does – gold for Hindi movies. (PTI)
